Roger Walker and the OK Club
by Solo2863
Summary: Witten in the form of a local newspaper report. This tells how Roger founds a successful youth club. Please let me know how you feel about this form of writing. It seemed to be a means of conveying the essence of what I wanted without producing a novelette.


From the Gazette and Star - September 1993

St Luke's church was full to capacity last Tuesday for the funeral of Roger Walker MC. CEng, BEng, founder of the OK Club for young people.

Roger was born in 1923 the second son and fourth child of Lt Cdr (later Rear Admiral) Edward and Mary Walker. As a naval officer Edward moved around frequently and, as was common at the time, all his children all went to boarding schools. Roger maintained he was not an especially bright student but investigation of his school reports suggest otherwise. In one his house master noted "Roger has a lively sense of humour and is a clever student who does particularly well in the sciences and practical subjects".

Along with his brother and sisters Roger frequently spent holidays in the Lake District where their days were spent camping and sailing. Later Roger was to recall these times with great fondness. "Those holidays were the best days of my childhood. Without realising we all learnt independence, self-reliance and teamwork, which stood us in good stead in later life."

The Second World War interrupted Roger's education and deferred his entry to university. He joined the Royal Engineers and served with distinction in Normandy in the 14th Field Squadron, attached to the Guards Armoured Division. During the advance through France, while under fire, he defused demolition charges placed on a vital bridge by the retreating German army. For his action he received the Military Cross. The citation reads "_Captain Walker continued to defuse the charges despite the possibility that they could detonate at any time and being under rifle fire from an enemy rearguard on the far bank. His bravery and skill enabled the advance to continue without pause_."

Following the fall of the Nazi regime Captain Walker remained in Germany as part of the force rebuilding that country's shattered infrastructure. After demobilisation from the army he resumed his interrupted studies by reading for a degree in engineering at Imperial College. In 1950 through an uncle on his mother's side and with encouragement from friends he obtained the post of assistant field engineer with the South Australian Mining Corporation (SAMCo).

Roger spent the next eight years with SAMCo and played a significant role in developing new techniques for mining the rare metal ores that became a specialism of the company. In 1951 he met Elizabeth Dwyer, the 23 year old daughter of a Perth businessman and his English wife. Roger and Elizabeth married in 1953. In 1958 Roger returned to England along with Elizabeth and their daughter, Samantha, then aged 2, and set up home in Derbyshire. Roger continued to work as a consulting engineer to various bodies including the Department of Trade and the National Coal Board. In 1959 Elizabeth gave birth to a son, James.

Inspired by his stories of carefree pre-war holidays Samantha wanted to enjoy the same sort of freedom; to go camping and boating, cook on campfires and have adventures. As none of the local youth organisations seemed to offer what Samantha wanted, Roger contacted his brother and sisters and organised a joint event for the younger children of their combined families. That first camp beside a Staffordshire reservoir in 1964 was a roaring success and the children all wanted to repeat the experience the following year.

By the time summer 1966 came round word had spread to several of the children's friends, who wanted to join in. Roger and his sister Susan agreed to let a small number come along to join Samantha, James and their cousins. Following this small beginning there was a clamour from other children to be allowed take part. Roger took the significant step of booking a suitable site for a whole month in 1967 and borrowing extra camping equipment.

The most memorable parts of these camps were the "adventures". These were activities arranged by the adults but left to the youngsters themselves to carry out as they saw fit. Levels of supervision were greater than the children thought, but always unobtrusive.

Samantha recalls one from those early days. "Someone, usually Daddy or Auntie Mave, would come up with an idea for a task, but it would always be couched in exciting terms. One I remember was Daddy telling us a story about pirate treasure being hidden on an island in a lake. He gave us a scrap of map showing part of an island with some labelled compass bearings on it. It took hours of experimenting to find a location that matched the map. Then we sailed out the island and dug for the "treasure". Of course it had been planted especially for us but at the time we thought was a real adventure."

From these early beginnings the numbers wanting to attend snowballed and friends of friends asked if their children could take part. Roger always remained true to the original concept of young people looking after themselves and finding their own solutions to problems. Usually a camp would be divided into two parts. The first, with close adult supervision, was spent ensuring the children possessed the skills necessary for the second part. Always included were fire-lighting, cooking and first aid; what else would depend on the "adventures" and usually involved water based activities such as sailing, canoeing or raft building.

By the early 1970s preparations for these camps was starting to dominate the spring and early summer months. After long discussions with Elizabeth and other family members Roger cut back on his consultancy work in order to concentrate on the organising and running the camps. In 1973 he took the momentous decision to turn them into a formal youth club.

When it came to deciding on an appropriate name it was James, who provided the inspiration. "Dad, it's all about kids having fun outdoors, isn't it?" That settled it, the organisation became known as the Outdoor Kids Club, or more commonly the OK Club.

Although Roger was the founder and head of the OK Club, he always insisted it was a joint project with other family members having as much input as him. In the 1980s he gradually handed over much of the running of the club to Samantha and his nephew Richard. Despite this he still maintained a keen interest in all the activities and would often surprise members by turning up unexpectedly when they were out on expeditions.

Only days before his unexpected death Roger visited a camp beside Coniston Water where groups of 10 to 14 year olds had enjoyed sailing and rowing on the lake and walking the Fells.

Today the OK Club runs activities for hundreds of youngsters every year. Although the main events last for ten days a taster weekend camps are proving popular for those who are unsure whether they want the full package.

Roger is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, children Samantha and James and five grand-children.


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